Saturday Morning

I think I've got a new ritual in the works...Saturday mornings mean a scone from Amy's Bread, a latte and the New York Times!  This morning's scone of choice:  Cherry Cream Scone.

PS - I would give anything to be in the canoe right now!

Baking for Good

One of the charities my company supports is St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  Tomorrow they are having a "holiday helper" event, which entails wrapping donated gifts to bring to the children who have to spend the holidays at the hospital and a bake sale to raise money.  So, of course I volunteered to bake cookies (I obviously made a double batch so I could keep a few dozen for my cookie gift boxes that will be going out next week - more to come on that!).

I received my new Gourmet Cookie Book in the mail on Tuesday, so I was pretty excited to try out a recipe.  I decided to bake Trios, because they seemed like a real crowd pleaser and are very festive looking.

Just a word of caution about these cookies - they are not hard, but they take a LONG time.  I'm talking 3 hours (and I didn't even finish them all - I have half the dough left in my refrigerator to finish tomorrow...although on that note, you can make this dough 2 days ahead of time.  So my suggestion would be to make the dough one night and make the cookies another!).

I tasted one that got a little burnt (CHEF'S TREAT!) and it was yummy!  What is your favorite bake sale treat?

Monday Mealtime

As the holidays are quickly approaching and I am spending quite a bit of my time at holiday parties sipping cocktails and munching on delicious snacks, I decided this weeks meal should be on the lighter side.  My dinner, Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto with a side of Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts, had just over 400 calories but did not taste light at all.

The Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto was so easy...get this, you make it in the microwave!  Apparently the microwave is the fastest way to cook rice and on a Monday night I say yes please.

While your risotto is cooking in the microwave, your oven is free to make the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze.  These are so easy and I think may be my new favorite side veggie.  You can mix everything right in the pan and just throw them in the oven.

What did you have for dinner tonight?

perfect way to start a weekend morning...

I woke up this morning to a slightly warmed up NYC, yes it is currently a toasty 39 degrees!  I decided to take advantage of this temporary reprieve from the bitter cold and walk to Amy's Bread to get breakfast.  I got an oat, banana and pecan scone (this scone was seriously amazing - just the perfect amount of sweetness, yet also grainy and cinnamony and delicious) and a latte.  Add in this morning's New York Times and it is the perfect way to start a Saturday morning!

I am starting a new job on Monday and I will fortunately/unfortunately walk past Amy's Bread everyday (yet to be determined...)

Stecchino

Last night I went to Stecchino for dinner.  It is located on 9th Avenue between 52nd and 51st.  It was packed (it seemed to be an office holiday party, because of the random assortment of people there who all knew each other), but the hostess was able to set up a table in a small corner for us, which was nice.  It was far enough away from awkward holiday party conversations, that we completely forgot that was happening behind us.

They have a pretty comprehensive list of wines by the glass, as well as a lot of small plates, cheeses and antipasta to munch on.  They also serve flatbread "pizzas" and house specialties - which consist of pastas, fish and meat.  Pretty much something for everyone!

picture from stecchinonyc.com

We shared the Grilled Vegetarian Flatbread, which was topped with marinated grape tomatoes, baby arugula, artichoke hearts, caramelized onions and parmigiano reggiano.  It was delicious - the bread was crispy and there were just enough toppings to force you to eat it was a fork and knife.  My friend and I were reminiscing about its yumminess this morning!

For dessert we ordered the Petite Sweets, which are three shot glasses filled with tiramisu, red velvet cake and white chocolate and strawberry mousse torte, respectively.  My favorite was the red velvet cake (which I could have easily ate three more of).  The white chocolate and strawberry tasted very much like strawberry shortcake and was very tasty.  The tiramisu, which we were the most excited for, left a lot to be desired.  The layers were separated and very liquidy, something was just off.  Next time I would definitely get the order of two petite sweets or get two red velvets and a strawberry.

from stecchinonyc.com

Overall a very good dinner...I am looking forward to returning to try some of the small plates and definitely another order of the vegetarian flatbread and red velvet petite sweet!

New Inspiration

Yesterday I had a craving for a new cookbook.  I perused my favorite cookbook site, Jessica's Biscuit, in hopes of finding exactly what I was looking for.  I decided on The Essential New York Times Cookbook, after my highly successful pasta dish on Monday night.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook from Jessica's Biscuit

And The Gourmet Cookie Book:  The Single Best Recipe from Each Year, because how could I not!

The Gourmet Cookie Book from Jessica's Biscuit

 What cookbooks are on the top of your wish list?

Pasta w Roasted Red Peppers & Goat Cheese

Tonight I tried out a recipe from The New York Times - Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese.  As you will soon realize I am obsessed with spicy food.  So, when I went to the super market tonight to get supplies for this recipe and saw I could only buy basil in a big bunch, I decided to substitute 4 basil leaves for one jalapeno.  This recipe was so yummy and very quick - perfect for a week night dinner!

 Try it out and let me know what you think!  What are your favorite weeknight dinners?